Toilet case



June 2, 1953 MILLER El AL TOILET CASE Filed Jan. 24, 1952 r mm; V e W W 6 7 i Z Z Patented June 2, 1953 .ZEOILET CASE George Miller, Wlles'ley, andEmil K. Rent-Dell Application January. 24, 1952, seiiallNo ztmae 1 -6"Claims. *1

The present invention relates to toilet cases made of flexible, yielding' material "as contrasted with stifi'boxes and cases made 'ofmetal, wood, :stifi" plastic material and other composition material, but "actually the invention may ibe used 'inismall types of oasesiortoilet or for other *purposes.

The object of "the :present invention'is to provide a caseinwhich the ooverywhenurilatohed, will automatically open "and hold its 'open :position. The object of "the present invention "is -to "construct :a 'ease of flexible, yielding material .w'ithout'anyrigid:frame'iwhioh'will maintain suf- "ficientrigidity so that it is not readily "deformed 'andwillthere'byfserye'fullyits purposes. -A further object of the present finvention is to provide atoilet'case in whiohthe cover will "auto- 'matically'open when unlatohe'diand'in Whi'C-h' th' body of the case -will retain "its :form in 'whioh the side walls are substantially upright when the'caseis'rrestmgonits cbase 'in an *open'p'ositiion.

-flihe tendency of 'most :leather 1'01 leather-dike toilet cases, unless "reinforced by steel angle elements is'forthe?back*wall'towhich the-top'of the case is hinged, 'to tilt "or bend, either :iorwards or f'loackwards, thus spoiling the appearance "of the'oase when it is'opened. "In "the'present applicationthisis .overcomewithoutthe use -o'f'Teinforcing "angle "elements between the upright "side wall and'th'e bottom o'fthecase sothatthe true flexibility 'and "softness of the case is fully preserved.

A 'iurtherobj ect of the-present invention is 'the arrangement of a torsion spring "between the top cover of -thecase "and the "short upright'wa'll to which "the cover is hinged, "the action --of the torsion spring *being suoh that the torsional emment 'runs lengthwise of the flexible "hinge and has "its ends attaohed "respectively to the "cover and=tothe back. Th-emresentiinvention employs a pair or torsional springs "which may be arranged either in alignment with the other or in 'parallel'relation one with the ot'her, the portioninalignmentorin'parallel relation being in a position'ofthe hingin'g Divot.

"The 'present (invention will -'be more fully described in the "specification set forth below when taken connection with the drawings showing an'embodiment of theinvention, -in which Figure l shows'a perspectiveyiew'o'f a -toilet case of 'the'present invention in anopen positionviewed firomith'e rear and looking downward slightly 'with 'portions broken away "to show *the internal construction.

*Figure 2 "shows a section taken in a central region of the case, and,

Figure shows -t-a modification "of *the spring structure illustrated' in l igure *1.

ln'the arrangement indicated in the drawings, the toilet 'case *I may be covered on "the "outer 5 surface with leather, "pliable "plastic, textile or composition material. Gn-the inside, toilet eases of the-present type "are usually lined with a soft suede leather, "Cloth, :plastioor other similar materials. I-hes'eelements form-theouterand-inner wall of the ease whiehmay boot a size to eontain comb, brush, *sha'ving equipment and other -use'ful accessories as *toile't articles. For this purpose *the "long dimension of the oase --m-ay "be about 'lO x '6 'andthe heig-ht approximatelyfl These dimensions however may vary considera- =b1y, but the invention is intended *to he =-used "more particularly where the upright walls 2, 3, 4 and 5 are small incompa-rison to the other dimensions, -as for instance, the bdttom 6 "and the-cover-l. The oase' therefore may bedesoribe'd as a comparatively fleitease with a large oover and low *side walls. -It will-be seen f'rom' tl'iis arrangement that 'the cover "I which lis hin-ged to the back wall d as will be' described latergis of a \considerable size and "Weight, particularly if it is in any way' fitte d with mirrors, combs-etc. The 'pro'lolemtherefore is to "make thecoverlsnap up and stay up while the case is in use and this must be done without making -the ease elumsy 'or having spring *or any other elements bulge outward or inwar'd from theiiexilole walls. As shown in Figures -1 and 2, th'e case is lined on the inner side with-a thin, sdftcoveringelement "8, which as stated, may he or soft leather or fabric *and .on the-outer side with a cover-element 9 which may ==beof any desired kind of leather, imitation leather, pl-astiocomposition or textile ma'terial.

Referring more particularly to the composi-tion "of the mover 1, it will be .IlOtEd that "this oomprises two stifi board members :l B and t l, which may be cardboard, sun leather composition or some -other somewhat yielding and somewhat fiexihle material. Ihe' -hoards H] and i l :are out out along a section lfi ant-their hinging ends opposite the edges of the -lower back wall 1.535 111- dicated the copending application 'Serial N0. 1385965, filed 'Qetober 7, 1950, providing proieoting end parts H3 which abut the top edges of similar stifi -wall boards 'l'd and l 5 forming portionsof the back Wall H. The-stiihboards Mand I 5 of the short upright'back =wall =have between them a strong fabric sheet I -G, to which each of the boards E4 and fli iswsemented. The sheet iii-extends downward from loetween theawall's 4'4 and T5 and extends beneath the stiff sheet W which is in the base wall 6 of the case. As will be seen from Figure 2, this sheet [6 extends quite far into the base beneath the stifl cardboard I! and is cemented to it on its outer side. The stiff board M in the back of the case may be slightly skived at its lower edge to make a slight allowance for the bend in the bottom of the case so that this may be uniformly rounded.

However in the construction of the case, the boards l and I! are positioned in flat abutting relation side by side and the sheet [5 is cemented over the two boards l5 and H in this abutting relationship. Thereafter the two boards I5 and I! are bent upwards at right angles as indicated in Figure 2 so that the section of the material in the corner I8 is compressed and under some stress. On the back of the boards l4 and I! a layer of soft filling material 19 is used, and on this is placed an outside covering 9 while on the inside is cemented the inner covering 8. This particular construction of the lower portion of the back gives the back wall 4 of the case a slight compressional stress which reacts to prevent a forward bending of the wall 4 near the hinging joint. This is essential to provide the proper strength and a square corner between the back and the bottom when no reinforcing angle brackets are to be used between the back and the base. This is particularly true in the type of case of the present invention where the side walls 3 and 5 at the ends of the case are soft and flexible and lack the stiff reinforcement that is used in the back wall 4. The walls 3 and 5 are lined on the inside and the outside with covering material, but very little, if any reinforcement is used in the wall itself as it is highly desirable to permit these walls to be flexible.

Referring again to the cover and the back walls of the case, it will be seen from Figure 1 and Figure 2, that the flexible hinge is provided by the fact that the stiff cardboard pieces l0 and II in the cover. and I4 and in the back wall are independent and that the attachment of the cover and the back wall is obtained through the outer and inner cover element 9 and 8 respectively, and by the cut away section 12 as mentioned above.

A spring hinge element is provided between the cover and the back wall. As indicated in Figures 1 and 2 this is provided by two spring elements and 2|, each of which is composed of a long stem section running a considerable part of the length of the case along its hinge with the arms 22 and 23 at right angles but in the same plane with the stem 20 and the arms 24 and 25 similarly bent at right angles to the stem 2| but in the same plane as the stem. Each spring element therefore has the appearance of an elongated L with the angle bent atright angles to the stem. The stems of both springs 20 and 2| are encased in a sleeve 26 which has a flange 21 extending from the outer surface of the sleeve by means of which the sleeve is stapled, with staples 28 to the board 10. The springs themselves are held in place by stapling the arms 22 and 25 to the cover boards H] and the arms 23 and 24 to the cover board H! with the stems lying on the inside of these cover boards so that the stems themselves actually come between the cover boards H), H and l4, [5 respectively. The ends of the staples as shown in Figure l are covered over by the filling material [9 so that the hardness of the turned over ends of the staples are well protected against marking the cover. The cover material 9 is drawn over the edges of the cover, the

back wall and the base, and a continuous line of stitching 29 stitches the cover material securely to the walls. The closure element is preferably provided by a zipper or any interlocking fasteners 30 mounted on a tape 3| in the usual fashion, one edge of which is stitched by the stitching 29 for the cover and by the stitching 32 to the three sides 2, 3 and 5. The springs 20 and 2| are in an untensioned position when the case is opened with the cover upright. -As the cover is closed, the two arms 22 and 23 of the spring 20 rotating relatively about the axis through the stem of the spring, have an angle approximately and similarly for the spring 2|. In this position of the spring, the case is closed and when the interlocking fasteners are closed together, they will hold the cover tensioned in this position. When the fasteners are unlocked the case will again fly open to the position indicated in Figure 1.

A somewhat modified arrangement is shown in Figure 3. In this case each torsion spring 33 and 34 is approximately one-half as long as that shown in Figure 1. The stem sections 35 and 36 are positioned along the hinge section 37 in alignment one with the other. The spring 34 has arms 38 and 39 bent at right angles but in the same plane with the stem 36 and the spring 33 has arms 40 and 4| also bent at right angles with the stem 33 and in the same plane. The arms 38 and 40 are longer than the arms 39 and 4! respectively, being approximately twice their length and these arms 38 and 40 are securely held by staples 42 and 43 to the board II! of the cover I so that the arms 38 and 40 do not move with respect to the cover board l0. However the arms 39 and 4| are held to the board M of the back wall by comparatively loose staples 44 and 45 so that the arms 39 and 4] are free to slide through the staples as the cover is opened and closed.

It has been found that a slight freedom of motion is desirable and that this freedom provided by tolerances given in setting the staples, permits the cover to be opened and closed without causing bulges at the hinge in the cover or in the back. In the arrangement indicated in Figure 3, it is not necessary to fix the stems of the spring in a cover and, further, the construction in Figure 3 does not make it necessary for one stem to cross over the other stem as is necessary in Figure 2, since in this construction the arms of each spring extend in opposite directions. An advantage however in the construction of Figure 1, is that a longer spring may be used and therefore the torsion in the stem is taken up in this longer length. Both constructions in Figures 1 and 2 have however been found to be very satisfactory. While it is desirable to use only a single spring, the use of a double spring has the advantage of providing better balance and is favored in the construction.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 3, the two arms 38 and 40 are side by side in the cover. This construction may be reversed and the arms may be placed at the sides of the cover with the arms in the back adjacent one another. The arms in both cover and back may be separately stapled and the arms in the cover may be sufiiciently loosely held so that they may slide.

Having now described our invention, we claim:

1. A toilet case having a bottom wall member, a back wall member, flexible side walls adjoining the back wall member and a front wall forming the walls surrounding the bottom wall member, and a cover member having a flexible fabric hinging connection with the back wall member, said back Wall member and said cover member having laminated flexible stifiening sheets, torsional spring means having a torsional stem positioned along the hinging connection with arms secured respectively to said cover member and said back wall member, said torsional spring means being untensioned when the cover is in an open position and tensioned when in a closed position, and means for holding said cover in a closed position.

2. A toilet case having a bottom wall member, a back wall member, flexible side walls adjoining the back wall member and a front wall forming the walls surrounding the bottom wall member, and a cover member having a flexible fabric hinging connection with the back wall member, said back Wall member and said cover member having laminated flexible stiffening sheets, a pair of torsional springs having stem sections extending along the hinging connections, each with an arm secured to the cover member and one secured to the back wall member, together with the stem section forming a letter H when the cover is opened, said springs being untensioned in the open position of the case and closed in a tensioned position, and means for holding said cover in a closed position.

3. A toilet case having a bottom wall member, a back wall member, flexible side walls adjoining the back wall member and a front wall forming the walls surrounding the bottom wall member, and a cover member having a flexible fabric hinging connection with the back wall member, said back wall member and said cover member having laminated flexible stiffening sheets, a pair of torsional springs having stem sections extending along the hinging connections, each with an arm secured to the cover member and one secured to the back wall member, together with the stem section forming a letter H when the cover is opened, a flexible sleeve member encasing said stems together having a flange extending outward of the sleeve along its length secured to said cover, said spring being untensioned in the open position of the case and closed in a tensioned position, and means for holding said cover in a closed position.

4. A toilet case having a bottom wall member, a back Wall member, flexible side walls adjoining the back wall member and a front wall forming the walls surrounding the bottom wall member, and a cover member having a flexible fabric hinging connection with the back wall member. said back wall member and said cover member having laminated flexible stiffening sheets, a pair of torsional springs each having a stem with arms extending from the ends of the stem in an angular position both in the same plane as the stem when the spring is untensioned, the stems being positioned substantially in alignment along the hinging connection, said spring being untensioned in the open position of the case and closed in a tensioned position, and means for holding said cover in a closed position.

5. A toilet case having a bottom wall member, a back wall member, flexible side walls adjoining the back wall member and a front wall forming the walls surrounding the bottom wall member, and a cover member having a flexible fabric hinging connection with the back wall member, said back wall member and said cover member having laminated flexible stiiTening sheets, a pair of torsional springs each having a stem with arms extending from the ends of the stem in an angular position both in the same plane as the stem when the spring is untensioned, the stem being positioned substantially in alignment along the hinging connection with two arms secured to the cover in its central region adjacent one another and two arms secured to the back at the opposite sides, said springs being untensioned in the open position of the case and closed in a tensioned position, and means for holding said cover in a closed position.

6. A toilet case having a bottom wall member, a back wall member, flexible side walls adjoining the back wall member and a front wall forming the walls surrounding the bottom wall member, and a cover member having a flexible fabric hinging connection with the back wall member, said back wall member and said cover member having laminated flexible stiffening sheets forming a central core of said cover member and said back Wall member with continuous outer and inner covering sheets extending over the both faces respectively of the cover and the back wall forming said hinging connection, torsional spring means for said hinging connection having a portion secured between the laminated sheets of the cover and a portion between the laminated sheets of the back wall, said spring means being untensioned when the cover is in an open position and tensioned when in a closed position, and means for holding said cover in a closed position.

GEORGE MILLER. EMJL K. RENZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

